Edinburgh Festival 2012: Edinburgh in brief

Short, sharp reviews from our writers at the Edinburgh Festival 2012.

Edinburgh, home of the Edinburgh FestivalPhoto: ALAMY

4:15PM BST 06 Aug 2012

Bullet Catch, Traverse Two: rating: * * * *

How do magicians carry out the notorious “bullet-catch” act, in which a bullet fired from a gun usually held by a volunteer is seemingly caught in the teeth or mouth of the dauntless performer? What are they tapping into when they do so? Our excitement at the thought it might go horribly wrong? Their own urge to contemplate self-destruction? The need to show humans in full command of their fates?

Rob Drummond’s remarkable piece, suitable for older children as well as adults, combines the thrills of a high-grade magic show with a profound theatrical meditation on free-will. Ostensibly his character, “William Wonder”, is trying to shed insights on a stunt that dates back to 1613 and which ended in disaster 100 years ago when performed by one William Henderson. Thanks to the sensitivity and intellectual deftness of Drummond’s own seemingly death-defying performance, the piece moves beyond historical re-enactment and peers down the barrel of some eye-opening existential questions. A palpable hit.

This second show from young, three-strong sketch outfit Sheeps is a lively piece of work with a slightly sophomoric edge to it that, with any luck, will be ironed out as the run progresses. As they drolly yank apart sketch conventions, along a knowingly spurious, Dan Brown-ish plot thread, Al, Jonno and the scrubbily bearded Liam need to be careful not to appear to be having more fun than the audience (which does happen occasionally), and they must also make sure their strongest lines ring out loud and true.

The latter is especially important, as the writing is really rather good: Liam’s fixation with a silly statue of a hawk yields some particularly shiny nuggets, and the hapless Tudor lamenting the 16th century for being “full of disappointing music, and with crap everywhere” is kind of inspired, and not untypical. A little way to go with the presentation, then, but a smart and enjoyable offering even so, and warmly recommendable.

Mark Monahan

Peep, Pleasance Courtyard: rating: * *

This series of three new 20-minute plays about sex, directed by Donnacadh O’Briain for his Natural Shocks theatre company, contains a neat concept.

They’re performed inside a specially constructed box in a corner of the Pleasance Courtyard; audience members are ushered, singly, into rubber-curtained booths, from which they watch through plastic windows, as if at a backstreet peep-show.

The effect is unnerving, and highlights the voyeurism inherent in any theatrical performance - so it’s a shame that the plays, each one performed separately, don’t live up to the conceit. Kefi Chadwick’s SexLife - in which a husband attempts to seduce his exhausted wife with an outrageous costume - is the best of the three. But Leo Butler’s 69, a quickfire round of short scenes confronting everything from bestiality to anal sex, just feels confused; and Pamela Carter’s Meat, about a couple discussing pornography, is yawn-inducing.

Laura Barnett

Tam O’Shanter, Assembly Hall: rating: * * *

Most Scottish schoolchildren are required to learn Tam O’Shanter — Burns’s longest poem, written in 1791 — by heart. For ill-educated Sassenachs such as myself, the poem is helpfully reproduced in the programme for this musical dramatisation by Communicado Theatre Company. But I’d strongly advise anyone unfamiliar with Burns’s cautionary tale about the eponymous drunken ne’er-do-well and his ill-fated horse-ride home from the pub to read it before going along - or the show, taking in everything from lascivious barmaids to devilish dancing, will prove pretty baffling.

Burns’s words are both voiced by the actors, and woven into Bothy ballad-style songs, beautifully accompanied by musical director Jon Beales and his band. There are also several contemporary poems, referencing everything from the credit crunch to Dolce & Gabbana knock-offs, in an affectionate pastiche of Burns’s style. These moments are less successful, and the broad Scots may prove another obstacle for non-Scottish audiences.

But there’s still much to enjoy, including several outstanding dance sequences from cast member Courtnay Collins.